Many of us find sleep cheater.
Either we are Busy When going to bed on time, lying often awake until the early hours, or having a young child who seemingly thinks 3 a.m. is the morning, sleep problems can be a real struggle. In fact, the Mental Health Foundation found it in 2020 48% of adults and 66% of teens felt that lack of sleep negatively affected their mental health.
Who suffers from sleep problems?
While not all of us have to deal with sleep disorders, Many of us deal with lack of sleep and/or sleeping and/or feeling problems Tired all the time.
in 2020, 52% of women and 44% of men She mentioned that the lack of sleep negatively affected their mental health.
There is a lot of sleep turbulence. We wouldn’t be the first person to struggle with falling asleep the way we struggle.
Sleep and mental health
Mental health and sleep Connected. Sleep problems and lack of sleep can contribute for poor mental health. Poor mental health can contribute to poor sleep and trouble sleeping. It can become a useless loop.
Most of us probably relate to the experience of struggling to come to terms with our emotions when we are tired. It is often difficult to organize ourselves. we may Explode, Explode When loved ones or to cry.
If we are in the field of mental health DrugsThen we may find that we don’t sleep enough to “sleep” out of drowsiness Side effectsso we walk around in a fog.
Unfortunately, lack of sleep has been linked It also increases suicidal thoughts and attempts.
fear of sleep
Before we get to the point of lounging in our temperature-controlled, totally dark, and totally comfortable bedroom, some of us start to struggle.
intense anxiety About going to bed And/or sleeping can be exhausting. Putting ourselves to sleep can be quite a challenge. It can take hours and can lead us to wake up even too late. We may even force ourselves to stay awake, until past the point where we feel sick.
As bedtime approaches, We are getting worried. While others calm down as the evening progresses, we go in the opposite direction, perhaps to the point panic attacks. may test physical symptoms Anxiety, many of which are incompatible with a good night’s sleep. Every time the night doesn’t go well, it reinforces our feelings of anxiety.
Each of us has our own reasons for our fears. We may not know where our fear comes from and need some the support to deselect it. Alternatively, we may have a very clear idea – perhaps it is caused by a specific event or circumstance.
If getting to our bed is too difficult, some of us may wear the sofa, which affects our sleep quality. If we can get him to bed, lying down can be a barrier. So, we do things like create a comfortable nest of pillows and sleep upright. Some need background noise – TV, podcasts, charging forecasts, or something else. Some scroll our phones until we get off. Blue light is not recommended when trying to sleep, but different things work for different people. For some of us, these are the things we need to sleep with.
we may feel ashamed of the difficulties we face. It may seem like a strange or “ridiculous” fear – but it isn’t. Sleep is complicated. It is affected by many different things, and thus affects many things. There are many different aspects of sleep that can cause our anxiety levels to rise. These concerns are real. It can be exhausting. We are not alone, we deserve the support.
insomnia
These are with Insomnia mostly Struggling to sleep and/or stay asleep. There are nights when it does not matter how many sheep we count, how perfect our environment is, and how much tea we drink with drowsiness, we are just can’t Go to sleep. Frustratingly, when we finally do fall asleep, it may not be long before we wake up again… and then struggle to get back to sleep.
We can try to bring forward a bedtime, but that doesn’t always work. Sometimes, that means we stay up longer and still don’t get many hours of sleep before our alarm goes off in the morning.
It can begin to affect our relationships, our work, and our ability to remember things, focus, or concentrate. In fact, it can affect every area of our lives.
If it becomes a regular occurrence, it may be worth talking to your local pharmacy and/or general practitioner about any support they may be able to provide.
nightmares
Most of us will have nightmares at some point. that they Different from bad dreams to wake us up. For some, nightmares are episodic and unpleasant. For others, it is regular, and it affects how much sleep we get, the quality of sleep, our mood, our mood. worry levels. We may start to fear sleep.
Sometimes nightmares are strange. Sometimes, they take advantage of trauma or really difficult periods in our lives. It can be very lively. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s real or not. We may wake up with a racing heart rate, sweating, and feeling anxious.
Stressworry, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)And the depressionAnd the Two-way disorderAnd the psychosis It can increase the risk of nightmares. sleep deprivation, drug withdrawalAnd some medications can increase the risk of infection.
If we have nightmares more than once a week, they are significantly affecting our mental health, or they coincide with starting a new medication, it would be worth talking to your GP.
night sweats
We all sweat a little while we sleep, but some of us sweat a lot. Around 10-41% We are affected by night sweats. Those between the ages of 41 and 55 are most likely to be affected.
menopausesome medications, hot flashes, hormonal changesOr cancer, infection, or severe reflux may cause night sweats.
Our body produces a lot of sweat – more than is needed to regulate temperature. It can disrupt our sleep, disrupt the sleep of anyone sharing a bed with us, and affect our overall quality of life.
If we regularly experience night sweats, or they are associated with other symptoms, it may be worth talking to your GP. They will be able to investigate any physical causes and may be able to recommend treatment(s) that may help us.
night terrors
night terrors It usually occurs during “deep sleep,” which makes it different from nightmares. It is more common in children than in adolescents or adults.
Suffering from other sleep disturbances, such as breathing or digestive problems, may increase our risk of night terrors. There may also be a genetic link. Feeling unwell, sleep deprived, and having an emotionally difficult time can be triggers for night terrors.
It can be terrifying, although we are unlikely to remember specific details of terrorism. The “fight or flight” system has been activated. Our heart rate rises. We might sweat, get hot, get chills, move around a lot, and shake. Some of us might scream. It can interrupt our sleep and affect the quality of our sleep.
If we are concerned about any of them night terrors that we or others experience, it is always a good idea to discuss our concerns with your GP.
sleep walking
some people sleep walking during “deep sleep”. Sleepwalkers often do not remember their travels. Although the term “sleepwalking” refers to walking, some people have been known to perform activities such as cleaning while they sleep as well.
It is usually not dangerous by itself. But if we start doing risky activities while sleeping, or we live in an environment that is unsafe for sleepwalkers, this can start to cause problems. It is important to make our environment as safe as possible if we regularly sleep during sleep. This can include things like removing piles of clothing and other tripping hazards or using motion-controlled lights.
Triggers for sleepwalking can include high levels of stress, alcohol consumption, and poor sleep.
bruxism during sleep (bruxism)
Some of us wake up regularly with headaches and jaw and neck pain. We may struggle to determine the cause of the harm. We can be too grinding our teeth in our sleep.
High levels of anxiety and stress can be caused by the creaking and grinding of our jaws while we sleep. Sleep culprits can act as risk factors, including drinking alcohol, drinking caffeine, snoring, and suffering from low moods.
It can create major problems for us, affecting our teeth and jaw. It can erode our teeth, create chronic jaw pain, or lock the jaw. If this is something that concerns us, talking to a dentist may be helpful.
sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis occurs between falling asleep and waking up, usually right after falling asleep or just before waking up. It can be incredibly scary. We are awake but temporarily we cannot use our bodies. We are temporarily paralyzed. Sometimes, we may feel like we’re suffocating. Some of us will experience it once, others many times. about 8% Many people will experience it at some point in their lives.
About 75% of people with sleep paralysis experience hallucinations. These hallucinations can make you feel like something dangerous is around the corner. We may feel like we’re suffocating, flying, or having an “out of body” experience.
Certain things make us more likely to develop sleep paralysis. Other sleep disorders that affect our breathing, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, dissociation, anxiety, panic disorder, and PTSD are all risk factors. Shift workers, abuse survivors, daydreamers, and those with strong imaginations are also more likely to experience it. Given the number of individual factors associated with sleep paralysis, it is currently unclear whether any of them directly cause it, or whether they are only related to it.
Although frightening, episodes of sleep paralysis do not last long physically.. However, they can cause anxiety about going to bed or falling asleep and insomnia. If it significantly impacts our lives, we may want to speak to your GP.
Talking while sleeping
Like snoring, talking during sleep is something that people who live with us might notice before we do. Our sleep may be loud, quiet, illogical, whole sentences, single words, or laughter. It is fairly common – 17% of people I’ve talked while asleep in the past 3 months, and nearly a third of us will at least once in our lives talk while we’re asleep. We are twice as likely to talk about sleep if we are diagnosed with a mental illness.
Talking during sleep itself is fairly harmless, but depending on the extent, it may disturb those who live with us. If we ever get anxious, especially if our sleep talk is accompanied by other symptoms, it’s worth talking to your GP.
snoring
41.5% of adults in the UK suffer from snoring. Airway obstruction causes the organs that help us to breathe to vibrate, causing snoring. Many snorers don’t notice their snoring, although it may wake some people occasionally. It’s usually a much bigger problem for whom we share a room with.
There are a few options to try to reduce snoring. We may choose to make some lifestyle changes, such as maintaining a healthy weight (if we can do this), Exercise Regularly (within healthy limits), drink less alcohol. Talking to a pharmacist can also be helpful because sometimes they have good, individual advice.
General points
Sleep problems can affect us in different ways. They can negatively affect our mood, increase our anxiety levels, make us constantly feel sleep deprived and foggy, make it hard to think and leave us so exhausted that we struggle to deal with the things we enjoy.
If any of these sleep disturbances affect us significantly, it is worth talking to your pharmacist and/or GP. Different disorders can have different treatment options – this could be medication, therapy, or something else. Your GP may want to rule out any physical causes for our problems as well.
sleep self help
There are things we can do try and improve our sleep. different things You’ll work with different people, and sometimes some general advice won’t work, so it might take a bit of trial and error.
Many of us have trouble sleeping. It can greatly affect our mood and general welfare. It’s important to remember that We don’t have to deal with it alone.
Please help us to help others and share this post, you never know who might need it.
Discussion about this post